My mother-in-law has amazing flower and edible gardens at her cabin on Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington. She also has a very exuberant ball-fetching standard poodle named Zoe. When I visited the cabin last weekend, I walked around her property, stunned by the bursts of color from her rhododendrons, peonies, roses, lilacs, honeysuckle, and numerous other flowering plants. And then there was Zoe, who diligently followed me and dropped her ball at my feet whenever I'd pause.
Even though Zoe is a big, active dog, her damage to my mother-in-law's fabulous garden seems minimal at worst. There are several gravel paths, upon which Zoe usually travels when outside. Two grassy patches seem to be her preferred outdoor lounging spots, and she's well-trained enough not to tramp around in the surrounding flowering gardens or strawberry patches.
Do you negotiate the issue of shared garden and pet space? How do you deal with pets in your flower garden? Do you train Fido to stay out? Do you use fencing or natural deterrents to keep your pets away from your favorite plants? Tell me all about it!
Quai D'Orsay
Presence
McQ by Alexander McQueen
indoor cat - says it all.
1Our dog has the run of the yard, so we put up short little fences around out vegetable garden so the dog doesn't eat our efforts. They are easy enough to step over and double as places for the bean and cucumber vines to climb. Any non-shrub plants I don't want the dog to destroy I put in pots.
2While our cats are indoor cats, we do let them out onto the patio with close supervision. We do not have a yard so we have many potted plants all around the patio. We have cat grass in one planter. They know that's theirs and will stay out of my veggies, fruits, herbs and flowers.
3Mine are city dogs... they do not do well at the in-laws/parents' houses when fruit is ripening... I'm never there for long enough to train them out of it!!! -_-
4Our dog, Lolly, was digging up our azalea and forsythia bushes, so we got rubber mulch rounds and put them around the plant then buried them under abou 4-6 inches of dirt. she hasnt been able to get them up since, but we still have huge holes in other areas--help!
5Thankfully Layla, my 3 year old boxer, has never disturbed any of my plants, although she has been doing her business in our grass patch a lot as of late. Incidentally, I've looked outside on a number of occasions to find her with her nose resting in a flower blossom, seemingly enjoying the scent. Now if I can only catch her stopping to smell the flowers on my camera!
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